Papase, (V/R), Sept. 15, GNA - Alhaji Rashid Bawa, Member of Parliament for Akan Constituency, has undertaken a five-day working visit of communities in his constituency during which he urged them to support the National Health Insurance Scheme to reduce the burden of health financing on individuals.

The scheme, which is being piloted in some districts, would eventually replace the Cash and Carry system that has been widely criticised as unfavourable to the poor and victims of emergency medical conditions.

Alhaji Rashid, who is also Minister of State at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, advised the youth to constitute groups and invite resource persons at the Ministry to guide them to access the 10 billion National Youth Fund to undertake income-generating activities. The outreach programme, aimed at explaining government policies to the people and eliciting their views toward socio-economic development, took the MP to Papase, Hamasu, Dodo Amanfrom, Pampawie, Dapaa, Ampeyo, Asato and other communities in the Kadjebi District.

At Papase, Alhaji Rashid interacted with victims of a recent landslide, which buried large farmlands, structures and livestock worth many millions of cedis.

Experts from the Geological Survey Department are investigating the cause of the disaster, in which a hill collapsed following a heavy downpour.

The MP, who was, however, happy that no human lives were lost, assured the people that with the assistance of National Disaster Management Organisation, the necessary interventions would be made to provide relief to them.

He said residents in the area would be evacuated and resettled if the Geological Survey Department predicts that another disaster was eminent.

The Minister also told the people of Wawaso, an onchocerciasis endemic area, that their appeal to the Government to undertake a mass spraying exercise in the community would be considered.

The people have also asked the Government to supply them with preventive drugs to insulate them from the fly transmitted disease, also known as river blindness.

In many of the cocoa growing communities visited by Alhaji Rashid, the farmers commended the Government's mass cocoa spraying exercise and the introduction of high potency fertilizers, saying they were essential to boost production levels.

Alhaji Rashid reiterated the government's commitment to improve the lot of Ghanaians through the provision of infrastructure, educational and health facilities.

He mentioned the tarring of the Jasikan-Breniase road, which would link the Northern sector of the country to the South through the Eastern corridor, saying the project being undertaken by a Chinese contractor would be completed by the end of next year.

Additionally, Alhaji Rashid said plans to upgrade the Kadjebi-Asato Secondary School into a model district school was on course and added that other developmental projects were in the offing.

The Akan Constituency in the Northern part of the Volta Region has a population of about 100,000, many of whom are farmers with cocoa and cassava as the major crops.